COLOSSIANS 1:1 Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timotheus our brother,
COLOSSIANS 1:2 To the saints and faithful brethren in Christ which are at Colosse: Grace be unto you, and peace, from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ.
The book of Colossians was written to saved people. They happened to live at Colosse in Greece, but they were already saved people nonetheless. (See section 17). Because they were already saved, the epistle to the Colossians does not tell anybody how to become saved. Instead, this epistle is a letter of encouragement, with some instruction on how to live in the grace of Jesus Christ.
In part of this letter of encouragement to the Colossians, Paul offered some explanation as well. He wrote:
COLOSSIANS 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
COLOSSIANS 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
COLOSSIANS 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Lest there be any confusion on the matter, let it first be plainly said that nobody is suggesting that anyone must be circumcised in the flesh. Such a conclusion is excluded by this very same scripture:
COLOSSIANS 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Recall that in his letter to the Romans, Paul wrote:
ROMANS 6:3 Know ye not, that so many of us as were baptized into Jesus Christ were baptized into his death?
ROMANS 6:4 Therefore we are buried with him by baptism into death: that like as Christ was raised up from the dead by the glory of the Father, even so we also should walk in newness of life.
ROMANS 6:5 For if we have been planted together in the likeness of his death, we shall be also in the likeness of his resurrection:
ROMANS 6:6 Knowing this, that our old man is crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, that henceforth we should not serve sin.
From this scripture (Romans 6:3-6), is has already been observed (in section 18) that it is by baptism that we are made partakers of Christ's death, and therefore, of His resurrection. Likewise, it has been seen that it is by baptism that the "body of sin" is destroyed (Romans 6:3,6). In Colossians, Paul made the same point:
COLOSSIANS 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
COLOSSIANS 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
COLOSSIANS 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
According to verse 12 of this scripture, the believer is buried with Christ by baptism; and by baptism the believer is also risen with Christ (verse 12: "...in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him..."); and it is by baptism that the believer "puts off the body of the sins of the flesh" (verses 11-12).
The same three points are made both at Romans 6:4-6 and Colossians 2:11-12. However, Colossians 2:11 also calls baptism "the circumcision of Christ." Before we examine what this suggests, we should make some observations on circumcision from the Old Testament.
In the Old Testament:
19.2.1 Circumcision was for men and boys only. God said to Abraham:
GENESIS 17:10 This is my covenant, which ye shall keep, between me and you and thy seed after thee; Every man child among you shall be circumcised.
GENESIS 17:11 And ye shall circumcise the flesh of your foreskin; and it shall be a token of the covenant betwixt me and you.
19.2.2 Circumcision took place on the 8th day of life. This is at the beginning of a new life, keeping in mind that God has made men to live for about seventy years (cf. Psalm 90:10). God continued:
GENESIS 17:12 And he that is eight days old shall be circumcised among you, every man child in your generations, he that is born in the house, or bought with money of any stranger, which is not of thy seed.
19.2.3 The Law of Moses specifically states that there is another kind of circumcision as well:
DEUTERONOMY 10:12 ¶ And now, Israel, what doth the LORD thy God require of thee, but to fear the LORD thy God, to walk in all his ways, and to love him, and to serve the LORD thy God with all thy heart and with all thy soul,
DEUTERONOMY 10:16 Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no more stiffnecked.
Either God mandated open heart surgery, or circumcision of the heart has a meaning (namely, to "be not stiffnecked," walking in God's ways, loving and serving God with all thy heart and soul, etc.) It should be added that circumcision in the flesh represents the circumcision of the heart.
Paul mingled the "circumcision made without hands" with baptism:
COLOSSIANS 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
COLOSSIANS 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
COLOSSIANS 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Verse 11 speaks of a "circumcision made without hands." How was this "circumcision made without hands" done? It was done "in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh." And how was that done? It was done by water baptism (verse 12)! This is the "circumcision of Christ."
Sin and baptism are connected in verses 11 and 12: "...putting off the body of the sins of the flesh...buried with him in baptism..." In verse 12, the word "wherein" refers to baptism: "[in baptism] also ye are raised with him...". Obviously, it's impossible to be acceptable unto God without faith." As Paul elsewhere wrote:
HEBREWS 11:6 But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.
Such faith is included in verse 12:
COLOSSIANS 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
In Colossians 2:11-12, Paul spoke of "putting off the body of the sins...buried with him in baptism...through the faith." He continued with the forgiveness of sins:
COLOSSIANS 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
"Dead in your sins" (verse 13)? In verse 11, Paul spoke of "putting off the body of the sins" in baptism. Do this in faith, and God will forgive you! As Jesus said:
MARK 16:16 He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved; but he that believeth not shall be damned.
COLOSSIANS 2:11 In whom also ye are circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, in putting off the body of the sins of the flesh by the circumcision of Christ:
COLOSSIANS 2:12 Buried with him in baptism, wherein also ye are risen with him through the faith of the operation of God, who hath raised him from the dead.
COLOSSIANS 2:13 And you, being dead in your sins and the uncircumcision of your flesh, hath he quickened together with him, having forgiven you all trespasses;
Notice how something called a "circumcision" is connected to baptism in Colossians 2:11-12. Recall from the Old Testament that circumcision marks a beginning of a new life (section 19.2.2). Here in Colossians 2:11-13, "baptism" and "circumcision" are mingled together, such that this "circumcision made without hands" likewise indicates the beginning of a new life. This is perfectly consistent with the phrase "born again," referring to John 3:5.
In the Old Testament, however, circumcision of the flesh was for males only (per Genesis 17:10), for obvious reasons. In the New Testament however, women are not exempted from this "circumcision of Christ" (i.e., baptism):
ACTS 8:12 But when they believed Philip preaching the things concerning the kingdom of God, and the name of Jesus Christ, they were baptized, both men and women.